Mesa 18 (Lima)

A Pacific scented wind blows off the Miraflores malécon outside of the Miraflores Park hotel, where the restaurant Mesa 18 can be found. Lima has lacked a really good hotel restaurant for some time. There’s Perroquet in the Country Club, which is more about socialites mingling than the food, and the Sonesta El Olivar used to hire promising chefs but jumped off that train long ago. Orient Express, which manages the Miraflores Park, chose to make the restaurant a destination unto itself, rather than make it another hotel eatery like the predecessor. Gone is the stiff red and gold décor and formal setting. In came a plant filled open-air terrace and an edgy dining room designed by a Jordi Puig.

Argentine chef Federico Ziegler spent his first 6 months in Peru being occupied with opening the restaurant and getting to know Lima. He set up an Argentine Mediterranean menu that was good by any big city standard and had his staff in place. Then he went off to explore Peru. He was shocked at how many ingredients were out there. Now they are all over the menu. Amazonian fruits and fish are as common as risotto. Paiche, a giant Amazonian river fish, is served over tomato and ginger fondant, fava beans, mango vinaigrette, and shrimp oil. Yellow fin tuna swims in a smoked broth, with ginger flavored cassava and tapioca. Shrimp are breaded with kiwicha, and Andean grain, and then fried and served with a maracuya, or passionfruit, sauce. Dessert follows with a tasting of manjar blancos, among other things.

Hans Hilburg, Peru’s most famous bartender (he now runs the excellent El Pisquerito in Cuzco) has trained the bartenders of Orient Express hotels and the cocktail menu is as creative as any: Chilcano de Gengibre (ginger, pisco, club soda), Fresa Albahaca (strawberry, basil, and pisco), etc.They keep a decent selection of ultrapremium piscos behind the bar. Gran Herencia, “the top of the top,” was recommended.Good choice.

Writer and photographer Nicholas Gill is the editor/publisher of New World Review. He lives in Lima, Peru and Brooklyn, New York. His work has appeared in publications such as the New York Times, Los Angeles Times, CondeNast Traveler, National Geographic Traveler, Afar, and Penthouse. Visit his personal website (nicholas-gill.com) for more information.

Date: August 5 lunchtime. Something strange must have happened today at this restaurant. They had taken my reservation one day earlier and upon arriving at the appointed time 2 pm together with my family, my reservation was nowhere to be found and being Sunday, the restaurant was full . After having to complain we were given a table but the waiter took his time in bringing us the menu and the drinks we ordered. As time went by I started to notice that although the restaurant was fulll very few people were actually eating, most were just waiting to be served and you could tell that many were getting impatient. Not even a smile or an apology A whole hour went by and our food was nowhere to be seen, I actually had to get up and find a waiter to tell him that if our food was not served within five minutes I would ask for the check and leave. The thing is that they couldn’t care less, really a lousy attitude, and yes the five minutes went by, by now I was really annoyed,asked for the check and left. Various other customers were also receiving bad service, one of them actually said out loud in Spanish so everyone could hear : “This is the worst service I have ever received, I am gone to tell my friends not to come, and believe me, I have many friends.” I cound’t agree more. Seems like its an overpriced restaurant feeding off the unsuspecting tourists staying at the Miraflores Park Hotel, and really does this top notch hotel a disservice. On a positive note, there are so many good restaurants in town that it was easy to find a great meal close by, and I doubt whether Mesa 18 will survive if they do not improve dramatically.